Kelly cruises to re-election in 16th District U.S. House race

Mike Kelly is headed back to the U.S. House of Representatives for an eighth two-year term.

The Republican incumbent easily won the race for Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District in Tuesday’s general election, defeating Democratic challenger Preston Nouri, a 25-year-old first-time political candidate from Fairview, according to unofficial vote totals.

The Associated Press called the race for Kelly at 10:13 p.m. Tuesday. With 67% of the vote counted throughout the 16th District, Kelly had garnered 65% of the vote to Nouri's 35%.

Nouri was seeking to become only the second member of Generation Z to hold a seat in the House of Representatives.

The 16th District includes Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties and the western portion of Venango County.

16th District: Preston Nouri on incumbent Rep. Mike Kelly's tenure: 'What do we have to show for it?'

Kelly, a 76-year-old car dealer from Butler, was first elected in 2010, defeating incumbent Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper. He is a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which makes budget recommendations and sets tax policy.

Contact Kevin Flowers at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Kelly wins re-election in 16th District U.S. House contest